With fanciful flight and their tapestry of colorful patterns and hues, butterflies bring enchantment to the garden with an ever-changing spectacle of movement and color. But there's more to these captivating creatures than just what meets the eye. Did you ever wonder, for example, if butterflies sleep? Or how they communicate, and what exactly makes their wings so colorful? Here are some answers to frequently asked questions.

The most obvious way to distinguish butterflies from moths is by the position of their wings when at rest. Most butterflies hold their wings together and upright over their backs while moths generally hold theirs horizontally or like a tent over their furry, stout bodies. In addition, butterflies have slender antennae that end in a swollen tip. Moth antennae are feathery or threadlike and lack the butterflies' swollen tips.

2. How long do butterflies live?

Here's the short version: Most adults, on average, live from two to four weeks. There are several factors, however, that come into play, such as the species, where it lives, and when it became an adult. For example, a swallowtail butterfly generally lives from six to 14 days while a monarch butterfly can live from seven to nine months. The longest-living butterfly species in North America is believed to be the mourning cloak, with some living up to 11 months as adults.

3. Where do butterflies sleep?

Butterflies don't actually sleep. Instead they rest, or become quiescent, at night or during the day when it's cloudy or cool. They rest with eyes open, typically hidden amid the foliage and hanging upside down from leaves or twigs in trees and shrubs. At night, they drowse in evergreen and broad-leaved trees and shrubs, fallen leaves, pieces of bark, or in a rock crevice or brush pile equipped with many nooks and crannies.

Some butterflies go through a cycle of suspended development -- a hibernation period known as diapause. For example, most swallowtails hibernate as chrysalides while the American painted ladies hibernate as adults. The blood of some butterfly species contains natural antifreeze agents -- glycerol and sorbitol -- which allow them to live in certain stages of their life cycle during subfreezing temperatures. During this period, their development comes to a standstill and vital functions are kept at bare minimum.

5. What do butterflies eat?

Most adult butterflies prefer sipping nectar from any flower they can access. The type of flower a butterfly visits depends on the length of the butterfly's tubelike tongue, called a proboscis. A butterfly's tongue functions much like a flexible straw, uncoiling when it's ready to sip sweet nectar from a flower. The tongue recoils back into position when not in use. Some species, such as red admirals and mourning cloaks, rarely visit flowers. Instead they seek out sap flows on trees, as well as pollen, fermenting fruit, bird droppings and dung.

While adult butterflies will feed from a wide variety of nectar flowers, caterpillars typically have very specialized diets. For instance, plants in the mallow family are favored by the west coast lady and the common checkered-skipper caterpillars, while monarch caterpillars feed solely on milkweed. Most caterpillars dine on specific plants, usually on the leaves, though some species do eat seeds, seedpods or flowers.

The rich patterns and vivid colors come from layers of thousands of tiny scales, most of which are produced by pigments. Each scale is composed of a single color. The scales protect the wings, and the overall color patterns protect the butterfly from predators. These color patterns act as camouflage of sorts, especially on the underside of the wing, enabling the butterfly to blend in with its environment.

Mud puddles make a contribution to butterfly reproduction. It's mostly adult male butterflies that like to gather around these wet spots -- a behavior known as "puddling." The males take in salts and minerals from the wet soil, which strengthen their sperm and encourage breeding. The nutrients are then transferred to the female through the sperm, thereby improving the viability of their eggs. Much like the highly concentrated nutrients in dried fruits (as compared with fresh), the nutrients in mud puddles become even more concentrated as the water evaporates. Consequently, butterflies often continue visiting these puddling sites until they are nearly dry.

BUTTERFLY QUIZ

How much do you know about butterflies? Take this quick quiz and see.

1. How do butterflies taste? a. with their tongue b. with their antennae c. with their feet

2. A monarch butterfly larva gains approximately how many times its weight during a two-week feeding frenzy? a. about 1,000 times b. about 2,000 times c. about 5,000 times d. about 10,000 times

1. c. Special taste receptors located on their feet allow adult butterflies to "feet taste" the flowers for nectar or sample the leaves for a plant's suitability as a host plant on which the female can lay her eggs.

2. b

3. b

4. b

5. c

6. b. All butterflies go through a complete metamorphosis. These four stages of life begin as egg, followed by the larva (caterpillar), the pupa stage (chrysalis), then the adult.

7. a, b and d. Most species communicate with one another through chemical cues, though a few species, such as the male cracker butterfly, communicate by making loud noises with their wings.